Downhill time: Who will it be?

Related Media

BEAVER CREEK - On behalf of the racers, media, spectators and Beaver Creek crew and volunteers, it's safe to say we are sufficiently-trained.

We've had three days of training - a site must conduct one run to have a downhill, under FIS rules, and Beaver Creek, which seemingly always has a training snowed out, added a third session to be on the safe side, and naturally once that was done, the sun came out this week - and we're ready to race.

It's the downhill at 10:45 a.m.

Thursday's training session was pretty much a poker match. All involved pretty much didn't show their hand. How else do you explain Italy's Christof Innerhofer logging two top-10 finishes in the first two runs and then finishing 67th out of 68 Thursday.

And let's just face it, Norway's Aksel Lund Svindal can ski backwards and still win a training run these days.

Interpret training however you may, but did you notice that Austria's Klaus Kroell , Max Franz and Georg Streitberger finished 5-6-7 after Thursday's run. Don't believe in coincidence, people. There's no such thing.

It's been a fast track all week in training which has made talking heads (like us) think about Daron Rahlves' course record of 1 minute, 39.59 seconds. Does the course bite back on race day?

As much as the talk in media corral has been centered around who's not here - Didier Cuche (retired) and Beat Feuz and Bode Miller (injured) - this is a stacked field.

Who joins the honor roll of Birds of Prey downhill champions?

The low-down on the downhill:

The format: This is simple - fastest down the hill wins. One run only.

Weather: A high of 45? This entire week has felt like we've been in Hawaii. More blue skies today.

Favorites: Well, Svindal (18). He's on a wee-bit of a roll. Discount the Austrians - Kroell (21), Franz (3) and Streitberger (6), as well as Hannes Reichelt (20) - at your own risk. Is Ganong ready to make the jump? He and fellow American Marco Sullivan have looked very sharp this week.

Darkhorses: How about France's Guillermo Fayed (2)? He's never won on tour, but has been on this week. Switzerland's Carlo Janka (13) pounded this course in 2009. Canada's Erik Guay (17) is quietly having a good week.

Staff picks (no wagering please):

Chris Freud: Italy's Peter Fill (7).

Lauren Glendenning: Svindal.

Celebrity picker, Pat Graham of The Associated Press: Svindal.

Sports Editor Chris Freud, who is usually completely off in his picks, can be reached at 970-748-2934 or cfreud@vaildaily.com.